Across the nation.

Court Upholds Ban On Computer-made Child Porn Images

MASSACHUSETTS — A federal appeals court has upheld a federal law that makes it illegal to possess computer images that look like children engaged in sex.

The decision, handed down Wednesday in Boston, overturned the ruling of a lower court judge who had declared the law unconstitutional.

The law targets computer technology that can be used to alter an innocent image of a child into a picture of a child engaged in a sexually explicit act. Under the law, it is illegal to possess images regardless of whether they show a real child or an altered image.

U.S. District Judge Gene Carter ruled March 30 that the law was unconstitutionally vague in the case against a Norway, Maine, man. He said the statute could affect lawful adult pornography.

Reversing Carter's decision, the appellate court said the law is not so vague that a consumer could not understand what type of pornography is illegal under the law.

It's the first time a federal appeals court has ruled on the Child Pornography Protection Act of 1996, U.S. Atty. Jay McCloskey said Friday.

"We term it a landmark decision that brings our federal child-pornography laws into the computer age," said Mark Terison, a federal prosecutor.